Andy Murray: Defiant Scot plays down retirement talk after sixth consecutive defeat - 'I can be competitive'
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Published 06/02/2024 at 21:12 GMT
Andy Murray insisted "I can be competitive" as he once again vowed not to retire anytime soon. The three-time Grand Slam champion has lost six successive matches. The most recent of those was a first round exit at the Open 13 Provence, a 7-5 6-4 defeat to Tomas Machac on Monday. But he remains determined to get back to winning ways - and may drop down to the Challenger tour to do so.
Highlights: Murray slumps to straight-sets defeat against Machac in Marseille
Andy Murray insists he has no plans to retire from tennis any time soon despite another chastening defeat.
The former world No. 1 suffered a first-round exit from the Open 13 in Marseille on Tuesday after he was beaten 7-5 6-4 by Tomas Machac.
That means the Scot has now lost six successive matches, a run dating back to October 2023, leading to mounting speculation that he may soon call time on his glittering career.
However, the two-time Wimbledon champion says there is still life left in his 36-year-old legs, as he fights to get back to winning ways.
"The only way to find solutions to win matches," he told a press conference. "It can also be played out in training, working on your game and sensations. But what happens in training doesn't always translate into a match.
"In 2016, when I finished world number 1, my coach told me that I had maybe won two or three training sets during the whole year... This year, I won almost all of them and I can't win a single match! You have to perform in competition, that's the only thing that counts."
Murray's last victory came against Yannick Hanfmann in the first round of the Swiss Indoors in Basel last year.
He was subsequently beaten by Tomas Martin Etcheverry, who would also eliminate him at this year's Australian Open.
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That straight-sets defeat in Melbourne was followed by arguably the most disappointing loss of the lot, a 2-6 7-6 6-3 reversal to Benoit Paire at last week's Open Sud de France, despite his opponent having not won a tour level match in 18 months.
The Frenchman, though, has been active at Challenger level, a step below the ATP tour.
And Murray admitted he may drop down a level as he looks to return to winning ways and pick up some much needed confidence.
"Maybe I will have to play in Challengers," he continued. "The easiest thing for me would have been to leave my career. But I continue because I love the game, I love to train.
"At the moment, without a doubt, it is not easy to compete. But what is happening now does not affect my career.
"No number of defeats will change what I achieved when I was in shape and with two hips. But when you can't win, you also lose confidence. I've never experienced that in my career.
"In Beijing and Bercy last year, I lost two matches against [Alex] de Minaur while serving for the match, with match points. This happened over the last three months. It only happens very rarely to lose in these conditions.
"But he is top 10 and I lost narrowly, like against [Stefanos] Tsitsipas or [Tommy] Paul. I can be competitive."
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